Canon issues allergy warning for EOS 650D/Rebel T4i

Canon has issued a warning to owners of the EOS 650D/Rebel T4i that the rubber hand-grips of some models may turn white, and produce a chemical that can cause an allergic reaction. According to Canon, the chemical, zinc bis (N,N’-dimethyldithiocarbamate), is not used in the production of the camera but is a potential by-product of a chemical reaction between other substances found in the hand-grip. Canon has identified a certain number of cameras where a larger than normal amount of 'rubber accelerator' was used in the production of this component, which could potentially cause this chemical reaction.

Canon has set up a website where you can check whether your model is affected. Click on this link and enter the serial number of your camera, and the site will let you know whether your camera is from the affected batch.

The hand-grips of some EOS 650D/Rebel T4i cameras may become discolored due to a chemical reaction caused by substances used in their manufacture (image: Canon Inc.)

According to Canon USA, 'some EOS 650D/Rebel T4i cameras' manufactured between May 31st and June 15th 'may be affected' by this chemical reaction, which causes the hand-grips of the cameras to turn white. Zinc bis, the substance produced by the chemical reaction, may cause an allergic reaction in some people, and 'as a precautionary measure' Canon advises owners of affected cameras to 'thoroughly wash your hands with water if they have come in contact with the rubber grip'.

So you're saying a mess-up sensor is more important than a health issue? Canon, nikon, sony, etc...they all have defects & problems of their own. Just saying I wouldn't pay $800+ for a camera body that can give anyone rashes or whatever.

What's going on with Canon's rubber grips? In previous models, like the T2i - which I onw - the grip would start swelling within a year, and then peel off...Now this, a toxic grip... In my view, if it triggers an allergy with some people, it can't be good for our health...

I recall having a similar problem on the very first Rebel 300D. I had a sticky hand which I couldn't remember whether it was glue or some food residue, and without thinking of washing my hands, I was holding on to the rubber grip.

The next thing I knew the rubber was melting and coming out of the camera body. I couldn't use it anymore and rather than scrap it off and do a DIY replacement, I gave it away instead..

So apparently certain chemicals do react with the rubbery stuff they put at the grip , better to wash your hands before you pick up the cam !

Is this the same stuff that shows up years later on, for example, old Minolta autofocus lens grips?

If so, there are many comments about cleaning with a toothbrush (perhaps with a little toothpaste) and then sealing with Armorall as the "permanent" fix. The Armorall does leave a thin coating, so I can imagine it being effective in preventing allergic reactions... although I've never heard of allergic reactions to the white stuff on Minolta lens grips. Anybody know?

This is nothing new, search DPR for 'bug spray & suntan lotion'; comments about how both products have been damaging the coverings on cameras go back to 2002. A simple mix of common products (bug spray/suntan lotion) interacting with other common products (plastic camera coverings). So, who's fault was this, the camera companies or the bug spray & suntan lotion companies?

Since it was a most likely a error by a subcontractor putting too much accelerator in the rubber compound, blaming the engineers seems ignorant.

Maybe blame the subcontractor? Even QA cannot check every step of every process to see if someone follows instructions. Some workers just dump in additives thinking more is better.

We once had some electrical wire with conductive insulation. Same thing, the manufacturer had a person who insted of adding a little carbon black for the black color, dumped a whole bag in - the more is better syndrome again.

Welcome to the internet: News stories are overblown, people have polarizing opinions not based on facts, nobody can be bothered to read or spell correctly, and nobody cares because they can't and won't be sensored.

The problem is the greed of big companies that cut costs, by using bad material, to make more money. It is incomprehensible that a company like Canon put defective, or in this case, dangerous products on the market. Perhaps they transferred people from quality control to costs control. I am a Canon customer for years but I think is inadmissible the use of bad materials in such products, to save a few cents. And it is true that these problems are happening more and more, because the millions in profits are not enough…"wash your hands with water if they have come in contact with the rubber grip"...it seems that to grab a camera is like playing with poisonous substances. whatch out ! wash your hands.

Wow. Really? First of all we haven't been told what caused the problem. For you to attack Canon like this shows your political leanings and exposes you as a person with an agenda totally unrelated to the topic. I've spent 25 years in design and manufacturing and I can assure you the problem is rarely "saving a few cents" as you suggest. Sometimes it's some type of machine malfunction and sometimes it's people that simply didn't do their job correctly. And yes sometimes we engineers simply made a mistake in the design. So you've never made a mistake at work? Really?

Comments like yours demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of fundamental manufacturing processes and are therefore not relavent in an intelligent conversation.

Yes I make mistakes, everybody that works, makes mistakes. But a company like Canon should have product control and testing, to avoid and correct this mistakes before launching defective products in the market, what is bad for the company and for the clients. And as a client, I don't have to know the manufacturing processes, I don't have to worry about that. We are spreaking about a company with decades of experience in making cameras, and not a new company in the market. This is not political criticism, but just a fact. Some last words to comment your last paragraph: opinion, freedom of expression and democracy…

I do not think that quality issues are just greed. There is a battle for survival going on in these companies as the model of poor Asian people being paid very small amounts of money to make cheap but sophisticated toys for rich westerners is unravelling rapidly. Most western wealth is borrowed or based on synthetic paper valued with absurdly elaborate mathematics which is in fact worthless when a modicum of common sense is applied instead. I doubt if any of these companies are actually making any real money. Expect these sort of goods to get very expensive in the near future and in the interim quality issues to increase before they inevtably have to be sold at their real cost.

I may have missed it in these fascinating comments but not one word concerning the people who handle this material during assembly. A footnote for the Canon vs. Nikon fanclub. I bought a Nikon OEM electric cable release (MC-30) and the directions say it contains lead and the user should wash their hands after handling the cable.

Look at the bright side. We no longer put our fingers in selenium toner or Pyrogallol or formalin hardener. I doubt most pros even know what these things are.

Every electrical cord of any type or voltage that may end up in California USA carries the warning to wash your hands and more, after touching it. Why, because the great state of California says..... 'WARNING: This product contains chemicals including lead, known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling. DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG'. California also requires this warning on all types of faucets, they may have lead in them also. Why doesn't the great state of California just ban the products if they cause cancer and birth defects?

I for my part had my little pocket camera (Fujifilm) exchanged four (4) times, one time for a warming battery issue, two times for SR issues, one time for a grip issue. The last camera had to be repaired again for the grip issue (and two other problems) and you know what ? The grip was glued with a tape ! Yes, a simple tape !

And I don't speak of my stereos (Aiwa, Pioneer) my Sony hard-drive-video recorder, my Toshiba laptop etc. that all died in no time for latent defects reasons...

Where is gone the good old "Made in Japan" ?

Note: I had just one little problem with my Canon G10 and none with my 7D... so far.

Right ! And living in Japan, I can tell you there would not be so much a difference if the products were made in Japan these days, as there is a very fast development of carelessness in this country. In fact, around 30% (or even more) of japanese workers are now part-timers (in fact full-timers paid as part-timers, without any welfare etc.) in these conditions it's easy to understand why the former "Japan perfect finishing" is slowly but surely about to disappear.

Too bad Japan is forgetting the reasons of its success... and it's all good for its competitors that, on the contrary, have well studied the recipe of the so-called "Japan miracle". One's man meat is an other man's poison...

I ordered some cheap camera handgrips overseas and got the California Prop 65 this has materials that can cause cancer warning (common on many overseas leather goods). Puts this whole allergy thing into perspective.

Anyhow I don't think the Canon allergy warning is a big deal and just shows how proactive and quick Canon has been in providing service and remedies again. IMO they hold the lead in QC/QA and will in the future as they move towards robotics. They are so damn quick to identify SN ranges for issues as well as to pinpoint issues from the source in manufacturing, etc. People think this is no big deal, but there are other manufacturers with faults that are still in the denial stage, and still wouldn't be able to identify and confirm commonly reproducible faults. They've fixed the light leak, S100 lens issue, upgraded the 7D, and now this. There are other companies that would rather stall you with poor phone support on your issues.

And on the bright side Canon regularly has some of the best refurb discounts available and I hope to see the t4i hit refurb with low shutter counts with returns from overly sensitive soccer moms or xenophobes.

I noticed white residue appearing and accumulating in the recesses of the grip on my 7D. I always make a point of keeping my hands clean when handling the camera, so I thought it was the covering was breaking down and wondered what might be causing it.

I think the problem is not confined the 650D, and goes back a few years because my 7D was one of the first delivered in the US.

Yet another reason to never be a first adopter. Anyone wanna buy my old first gen. Toshiba dvd player. Won't play burned dvd's or even many newer releases and it only cost me 800 bucks when I bought it. LOL

There is also a problem with Nikon.I purchased my first camera.. a Nikon D7000 and when i put my eye to the viewfinder and click the shutter, i experience a horrible allergy attack affecting my eyes.When i came home and loaded the image into my computer I noticed that the compositions were horrible ! There were lamposts eminating from my subject's head... horizons were centraly located vertically along the frame ... running subjects were placed along the wrong end of the frame ... geometic lines were mergining together .. landscapes were blurry ... studio shots were lit unevenly ... too much dead space in the frame .... distracting objects in the backgrounds, and too much noise and artifacts.I tried to take some antihistimines before going out for a shoot but my results are always the same.. I fear there is some chemical in that rubber eyepiece or the shutter release button which is causing my eye difficulty. Do you think I should contact Nikon about this ?

Ok, for all you who are downing Canon...let's just see how many white lenses are out at the Olympics! It's just a rubber hand grip. The world isn't going to fall apart because a few people react to some weird chemical.

regardless of what sort of fanboy you might be, what the hell is going on with camera manufacturing this year? Fuji release a camera that cant handle highlights, nikon release a camera that cant focus! and canon release one that falls apart requiring tape or gives you rashes! wtf!

The K-30 is still very new. Be careful about implying that it won't have problems, because very few units are out and it takes time for people to find problems.And given that every manufacturer (including Pentax) has a record of seeing bugs surface on new products, I wouldn't be surprised if the K-30 had a few glitches too.

This is false. The SDM issues were when it was first incorporated. But as of the last couple years? It has SIGNIFICANTLY dwindled to a whisper (please remember to look at sample size versus entire population). I personally have had 3 SDM DA* lenses with a fourth in the mail here in Afghanistan, and never a single issue. I am confident my lenses will never suffer an SDM issue, and if they do? Sh** happens, I'll replace it and get the same exact lens, because they are that good. But to say that there is a "Long Running Problem" is ignorant and using exaggerated data to generalize. Might as well say "Don't ever go there, the food is horrible" when you had one or two bad experiences with a bad chef during the grand opening. Your choice, but in my opinion the wrong one.

Also, have you seen the prices lately? Find me a Canon/Nikon alternative that is 100% sealed in that focal length range + aperture for less. You won't.

There are some seriously sad, paranoid and xenophobic people here (the comments about Canon using "Chinese" parts are especially stupid and offensive).

I wouldn't touch this camera with a bargepole because of the sensor. A chemical reaction in the handgrip producing zinc, bis? Who cares! There are probably idiots out their taking that for their health!

C'mon, with an announcement like that poking fun at Canon is to be expected... however this is serious stuff, consider an instrument which you can spend several hours a day using such as a a car or camera, and that causes you discomfort to the point you can't use it... My girlfriend has very sensitive skin on her hands, imagine that I'd buy her a 650D, and that she'd get this problem... It's 850 bucks we're talking here. And the fact that this wasn't an issue before, is an indication that Canon has used a sub-par material, that seems wasn't the case in the 600D. I would't buy any camera that could deal this kind of nuisance.

Well but unfortunately there ARE a lot of toxic products from China, sometimes even Cloth!Sure, most of the time it's noticed before it ships to the resellers all over the world, but sometimes it's not and needs to be recalled when in stores or already sold.

In this case here, it's definitely not dangerous and most people are for sure not allergic to this anyway. But some are. Like me for example. So I'm glad Canon is honest about it.

Some people might be xenophobic but low quality and sometimes even toxic goods from China (and other "cheap" countries) are an issue that needs to be addressed.Also for the safety of the workers there.

I work in a lab that deals primarily with chemical toxicity and this kind of problem is far more serious than most would think. Approximately 60% to 70% of what goes on the skin is absorbed into the body and becomes very difficult to remove, and puts tremendous stress on the immune system. The most toxic products we have tested are t-shirts containing dyes from China, socks containing dyes from China, and running shoes made in China (most contain numerous dyes and over 16 kinds of glues and solvents, especially the most expensive ones). Most people have these kinds of toxic products against their sweaty bodies and feet all day long! I only wear organic cotton or hemp clothes and shoes. People who laugh off the effects of this problem will come to regret their error.

Indeed industrial world's people are exposed to huge constantly increasing number of chemicals which wouldn't naturally occur freely in environment.Full effects of those chemicals are rarely studied thoroughly and their combined effects even less. And pollution spreading globally through air and water makes it harder to study them when basically everyone is more or less exposed.

Lead is very good example of human's stupidity with chemicals: It was known to have toxic properties for two thousand years but was still allowed to be added into gasoline for dosing whole atmosphere with it.

How ironical that society which has more than ever ways for treating diseases is such determined to keep doing slow poisoning experiment on itself.

Valiant Thor you are absolutely right! I have had many "rubber" products from Asia in the last three years, that "smelled" so poisonous that I could not handle them indoors or without gloves. It also happens that these synthetic rubbers from Asia don't last one season (cold winter) before cracking apart. Some manufacturers obviously have no clue or scruples about the ingredients they are mixing together.

Something that doenst really surprise me. Some store clerk told me on the quiet that the Rebel T3i's plastic wraping around the handwrips comes off on every demo unit he puts out. It pretty much simulates years of touching and greasy sweaty fingers within a couple of weeks.

Canon probably found some chinese supplier who offers those allready cheap plastic grips for even less, the ramifications are obvious.

It's also obvious that Canon does not bother with quality insurance past a certain point, but I'd say they are in good company in that regard. I'm looking at you Fuji and Tamron.

The grip must be definitely made of dog poo as it is the only thing I know that eventually turns from black to white over a period of time. Considering that Canon also advises owners of this camera to 'thoroughly wash your hands with water if you come in contact with the rubber grip' is even more indicative that this is the case!

That's a lot of words to say "we used cheap stuff from China, it's a serious problem, may even irritate your skin, and we're trying to place blame in convoluted story about chemical reactions rather than admit any fault."

There must be a good number of people who never register their cameras (or anything) so they may never know about the recall. Not everyone frequents camera sites. Those affected will surely be in for a nasty surprise.

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